Every once in a while, a friend of mine will come to me, and tell me about how they are dealing with addiction.
Sometimes, it will be a close friend, telling me about someone else that I know, that is dealing with addiction.
Other times, it will be someone that I know who has dealt with addiction, and knows someone who just committed suicide because of addiction. Continue reading »
I keep learning this great lesson. It’s something I know, but seem to have to experience repeatedly for it to sink into my stubborn head. With kids, there’s no such thing as quality time, only quantity time.
Some people actually believe they can schedule quality time with their kids—moments when their kids will open up, reveal what’s really going on, and share. They want to schedule this time the way they schedule a business lunch. But, kids don’t work on these kinds of schedules. They open up when they’re good and ready, and it’s usually when you least expect it. This happened one weekend a couple of years ago with my younger son.
I bribed him to come skiing with me. Yeah, it’s hard to believe, but he wasn’t interested. My older son was, but my younger one got cold the first time we tried and has been against it ever since. My younger one wanted to quit early, as he was tired. Instead of berating him as I’d done in the past or just displayed my impatience, I supported him and told him he was doing great. I didn’t push him. The upshot was, both he and his brother were tired after a couple of hours. Continue reading »